


Ten Languages, Love

by Simarillion



Category: Hannibal (2001), Hannibal Rising (2007), Red Dragon (2002), The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-08
Updated: 2010-04-08
Packaged: 2017-10-08 19:00:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/78570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simarillion/pseuds/Simarillion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some things are just impossible to say.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ten Languages, Love

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: It's the same as always. None of the herein featured characters belong to me but they are property of the genius masterming Thomas Harris and DeLaurentis Pictures.

**01 – ENGLISH**

"I love you, Will." The words were soft and frail, getting almost strangled by unshed tears. "I honestly love you but I can't live with what I did. I want to forget and I can't do that with you as a constant reminder. I'm so sorry."

There would have been an answer to that if Will had been conscious. As it was he still drifted between sleeping and waking, ensconced in a world that made it possible to flee from reality and the happenings of the last 24 hours.

"Josh and I are going to miss you and I feel terrible about leaving you like this but I know that I would not be able to go if you were awake and could talk me out of my plan. I am coward, I know. I hope that you won't hate me too much once you wake up and I wish that you will find someone to love that stays with you."

Molly felt the prickling wetness in the corners of her eyes spilling over and trickling down her cheeks. She couldn't stop them anymore, it was all too much. For the umpteenth time this day she cursed Hannibal Lecter and his destructive influence on Will's live. Everything could be so perfect for the gentle man that had shared her life for the last couple of years if not for the sociopath in the basement of a certain institution.

Ignorant of the pain and the tears Will slept on and his peaceful but scarred face looked is if there had never been anything troubling him in his whole life. This misleading image showed what should have been instead of the anguish and torment that was displayed on the alert face every day.

"Thank you Will for everything that you did for us. Take good care of yourself."

She bestowed a last kiss on Will's forehead. It was soft and it was a parting from a beloved person that would never share her life again in the future. Molly wiped the tears away that made her cheeks feel cold and sticky and took a step back from the hospital bed. Another step back and she quickly turned away from the white hospital linen and the man wrapped in them.

Without another look back she left the room and left this part of her life behind her.

 

**02 – FRENCH**

Paris was so different from everything that he had seen and done so far. It was also his first time in Europe and with some amusement and surprise he noticed that people on the Old Continent were not that different from his home country. There were bigots and there were nice people. It was just the same as everywhere else.

Will sat in the café and sipped his espresso while watching the young people strolling by the tables and chairs that offered the possibility to sit out in the street and take a cup of coffee. The Quartier Latin was alive with the young people that made their way to and from university. This place made him feel alive and Will thought about possibilities that had never really existed for him.

The reason for his afternoon coffee was the talk he had had the previous evening with Madeleine. They had wanted to spend a quiet and cosy evening and night together now that she had finished her exams for this semester but everything had changed abruptly with three words from Madeleine's mouth.

_'Je t'aime.'_

Madeleine had started screaming at him when the shock he had felt had rendered him speechless. Accusations about being emotionless and not caring about her had been thrown at him like darts. Will hadn't felt the need to defend himself. Partly because he was not in the mood to start a shouting match and partly because he was not sure how much of what was said was right and how much was wrong.

So Will had spent the last hour thinking about the words that had been said last night and he realised that although he was not indifferent where Madeleine was concerned he was not sure if there existed such deep emotions inside him anymore. He wished he could tell her he loved her but it was not true and he was at least honest to and about himself.

The waiter stopped at his table. "Vous désirez un café, Monsieur?"

The cup was empty but he didn't feel like drinking a fourth espresso. "No, merci beaucoup."

"Autre chose, Monsieur?"

"Non, je suis content, merci beaucoup."

He watched the waiter pick up the empty espresso cup and leave him to his thoughts again. Will took a sip from the glass of water and thought about exploring more of Europe.

 

**03 – ITALIAN**

The Vespa stopped next to him and Will watched a young man get off, holding out a helping hand to a young woman in a short sundress and sandals. He wondered if he ever had been that young because at the moment he could not imagine so. His life made him feel ancient.

He continued his stroll though the streets of Florence without paying attention to where he was going. His feet carried him through backstreets, over piazzas and over bridges without any direction or knowledge of the place. Will just kept going. He didn't care anyway.

After his tour through France from Paris down to the Côte d'Azur, Will had stayed for some time in Nice and then had moved on to Italy. He absolutely loved the philosophy of 'bon vivre' that made living in the Mediterranean countries so comfortable. Genoa, Pisa and then along the Arno River to Florence Will had taken in the beauty of the Tuscan region as he slowly approached 'The View' he had heard so much about in the past.

The city was beautiful and everything he had been told and more. So much more. There was a feeling to the streets, houses and palazzos that made him feel at home but the familiarity he felt with the city frightened him as well. It was as if the place was making him drown and Will was reminded of a certain past acquaintance that had felt the same to him.

Will stopped in a small street and stared at the wall in front of him that had been decorated with graffiti. Stylised words and letters created a modern piece of art that was in stark contrast to the historic buildings all around. His eyes zeroed in on a phrase at the centre of the wall.

'Ti amo,' was spelled out in a flourishing script and bright colours.

The words made him stop his line of thoughts. He wondered who the phrase had been dedicated to and if the recipient of the confession had been delighted with it. Love. The feeling was something that had confused Will many times in the past. He had fancied himself in love only four times in the past.

His first love had been in high school of course. Casey Johnson had been the most beautiful girl in lab class and Will remembered the mumbled love confession that had garnered him only a broken heart when Casey had informed him that she was already seeing Robert Brown from her Math class.

Love waited until college to strike again. Bethany Wilkinson had been a perky course colleague that had had big breasts and wore tight pullovers that hugged her breasts charmingly. Will had loved Bethany almost as much as her big breasts but unfortunately Bethany loved big breasts as well and it had been a rude awakening to find her making out with Meg Graham.

His third love had confused the hell out of him. It had been such a surprise to discover his feelings for Dr. Lecter that he spent the first two months working with the man denying his interest in the psychiatrist. Slowly he had learned to admit to himself that he was not as straight as he had thought himself to be and he used his time with the doctor to open up to his gay side. He was still interested in women but he was finally realising that he was interested in men as well.

Finding out about Dr. Hannibal Lecter's true nature had been a blow that had taken some time dealing with. He had felt as if his heart had been carved out that night after all. He certainly wished it had.

The fourth love of his life had been Molly. Being honest he had to admit that he had loved the idea of Molly more than Molly herself. After his gay debacle with the doctor, Will had needed something concentrate his all on and when Molly had come along it had been the perfect opportunity. It had been doomed to fail from the beginning.

And now he was here on a street in Florence staring at a love confession of an unknown person and contemplating when and where everything had gone wrong. Most of all Will wondered if he would ever be able to love again. He didn't believe it possible.

 

**04 – JAPANESE**

"Aishiteru yo."

Will sighed heavily and felt the heaviness of a delicious dinner making him sink deeper into the couch cushions. The Japanese movie was something that the guy from the video store had recommended to him. It was an OV but the subtitles translated everything necessary. It was strange to watch a movie and not understand a word the people were saying.

"Matowaritsuku, aishiteru yo."

"Gomen nasai."

"Iie!"

"Sayonara."

Will sighed another time and wondered if he should finish watching the movie. The plot did not appeal to him in the least and after thirty minutes of watching the heartbreak of the young protagonist couple he wished he had chosen the French noir film instead.

"Yashimoto-san, shisaku."

Will sighed again and stared out the window, the dialogue of the movie transforming into background noise. He wondered about continuing his tour of Europe. After three months in Florence he had taken a train to the North and had ended up in Vienna. Tired of the endless moving about he had rented an apartment in the centre of the town and had stayed for half a year now.

He did not want to leave right now but he ought to start thinking about destinations he wanted to visit once he left. He needed to be prepared once the mood struck him to move on.

"Yashimoto-san!"

He definitely was going to get the French noir movie the next time.

 

**05 – CHINESE**

Soon after the Japanese movie debacle he had noticed that he had become obsessed with love. Not the feeling but the word. He had decided to learn the word in as many languages possible. If he was not able to feel it he at least wanted to be able to say it.

So far he was versed in four languages but today when sitting in his favourite Chinese restaurant he had asked the waitress what 'I love you' was in Chinese. The question had caused some giggles but the girl had blushingly translated the sentence for him. _'Wǒ ài nǐ.'_

Will had repeated the words to himself and continued obsessing about them. He really was fascinated how something as complex and complicated as love could be pressed into three little words. It should by rights not be possible. It defeated reason.

The love Will had felt in his life had been so different that he was not sure that the same three words could be applied every time. But there was nothing else to say but this sentence. It was rather unimaginative of humankind to not come up with something else besides 'I love you' during its long existence.

Thinking such he had continued eating his Peking Duck and watched the families, friends, couples and friends come and go from and to the restaurant. He had wondered if the other patrons were thinking the same as he or if they even cared about it all.

On his way home from the restaurant to the apartment he had realised that he needed a change of scenery and on the next day he had cancelled the lease contract and prepared to move on to his next stop.

 

**06 – DEUTSCH**

Now he had of course found out the German translation for his obsession before his trip to Munich. He sat in the huge park which was called the English Garden in the centre of the city and in front of him stood the largest glass of beer that he had ever seen. Two pints would have comfortably fit into the glass.

The day was sunny and the early summer air had coaxed many people into the park and the tables were filled with young and old. A squeal of delight made him whip his head around and he watched a mother with a buggy and a young kid heading for the table next to him. The baby in the buggy waved his chew toy frantically and squealed and mumbled delightedly. The outing was apparently much to the baby's liking.

The mother secured the wheels of the buggy and instructed the other child to pay attention while she got the drinks and some ice cream. The instruction was met with a frown but obeyed none the less. The little girl divided her attention between the baby next to her and the other children playing close by.

Carrying a tray with two glasses and a stick of ice-cream, the mother returned to the table. She took the baby out of the buggy and sat it down in her lap, cradling it close to her body. The little girl sipped from her drink and her full attention was now on the other children that played a game of tag.

Will turned away from the scene and his eyes stopped on the headlines of a youth magazine cover.

_'Ich liebe dich – 10 Tricks wie du ihn dazu bringst seine Liebe für dich zu gestehen.'_

He smiled and his eyes continued their scan of the people around him. There were other people obsessing about those three words after all. A warm feeling spread in his chest as he imagined the one person he had really wanted to confess loving him saying 'I love you.'

He reached for the huge beer glass and took a sip. The warming summer air felt indescribably good and Will knew exactly where he wanted to go next.

 

**07 – CZECH**

The beer was good here as well and Prague was a beautiful city. There was a reason why it was called the Golden City of Prague. The golden paintings and decorations on the houses glittered and shone in the sunlight and Will leaned back in the chair.

He had spent the last two hours watching the masses of tourists crawling through the streets. The heat rendered the older generation exhausted and so the majority of patrons in the street beer gardens where at least fifty-five years old.

His search for I love you's had continued and he had been able to add another language to his repertoire.

_'Miluji tě'_

Will had felt a sudden rush because of the new addition and now that he had toured the sights of Prague for two weeks he was taking his farewell from the city before moving on. He had decided to take a last walk through the first district and then have a nice dinner in a small Kampa restaurant.

Tomorrow he would board a plane and travel south again. He wanted to go back to the sea and since he had already seen France and Italy the logical next stop was Spain of course. He had decided to go to an island and so he would board a plane to Mallorca the next morning.

He finished off his beer, left the money for the drinks on the table and joined the stream of tourists through the narrow and crooked streets of the Prague city centre.

 

**08 – SPANISH**

The island was diverse and offered not only touristic attractions but an amazing nature as well as historic treasures. Will had checked in at a beach hotel but spent almost all of his time touring the island. After two weeks of enjoying the stay at the hotel, he had realised that he was going to stay longer and he had purchased an apartment in Palma de Mallorca.

The decision had surprised him when he had made it but now he felt at home in this city that was full of life. He spent most evenings sitting on the balcony watching the happenings down in the street and the events at the beach.

The apartment included a rooftop garden and Will felt for the first time the calm to settle down. Last week he had applied at the local university and he would start teaching English classes come autumn. He had even made some friends. Not good or close friends yet but it was a start and he was happy to have some inner balance again.

Will stared at the pad of paper on the balcony table and continued drawing designs around the words he had written down. _'Te amo.'_ He had added the new vocabulary soon after arriving here. Learning French at school and college he had not learned the words earlier on but after his Europe travel he was somewhat versed in Romanic languages and it had been easy to learn the sentence in Spanish.

His mobile vibrated over the table, signalling that he had a call waiting. When he flipped the phone open he recognised the ID as a university colleague he had got to know last week.

"¡Hola William! ¿Qué haces?"

"Nada. Estoy a mi piso y relajo."

There was a slight chuckle on the other side of the line. "Entonces te sumas a nosotros y ayudas con la preparación de la exposición. Todos los objetos de exposición han arribado."

Will thought about the possibilities. He could either stay at home or he could join his friend and some other scholars and help with the set up of the exhibition. There was not really much to choose between.

"Vale. ¿Cuando hay que llegar?"

"A las dieciséis."

"Vale. ¡Saludos!"

"!Saludos!" and with the farewell the connection stopped and Will got up, the sketchpad abandoned on the table as he went for a shower before leaving.

 

**09 – CATALAN**

The exhibition was a joint-venture between a French private collector and the University of Mallorca. Many of the objects to be exhibited were antiques and old paintings but some of the pieces were contemporary. They had unpacked the collection of landscape paintings and were well into the vases and amphorae when the curator of the exhibition arrived.

"As you can see we are taking very much care of your property, Doctor Sforza."

"That is very reassuring to see." The response was drawled in a metallic voice that made a chill run down Will's spine with its familiarity.

He slinked behind a corner and disappeared into the men's room. His breathing was erratic and fast and he could feel his heart in his throat. If there was something he had not expected it was that he would meet Dr. Hannibal Lecter in his safe haven he had created. He felt too afraid to return to the exhibition rooms and the preparations of the show cases and rooms.

Will forced his breathing to slow and his heart to calm down. The adrenalin had him shake and he feverishly thought about how to leave the building without drawing any attention to himself.

The door to the restroom opened and Pablo entered looking at him questioningly. "William, ¿que pasó?"

"Nada. Todo es de acuerdo." He winced at the lie but he was not going to explain himself and his connection to their private collector.

"Estas pálido."

"Me siento mal. Creo que volveré a mi piso." He sent a small smile at Pablo and squeezed past him out of the restroom. The curator and Dr. Lecter had left to take a look at the rest of the preparations and Will used the chance to escape out of the building.

He thought about the reaction the other man's voice had called forth and he knew that he was not ready to be faced with the doctor. He was not strong enough for that.

T'estimo. How much he would like to say these words to the doctor but he knew that they would not be welcome.

Shortly after arriving in his apartment, Will's mobile throbbed and informed him about a new message. Curiously he flipped the phone open and read a number that he did not know. Opening the message, the content made freeze in shock.

"This time you will not escape, Will."

 

**10 – BODY**

_'I love you. Je t'aime. Ti amo. Aishiteru yo. Wǒ ài nǐ. Ich liebe dich. Te amo. Miluji tě. T'estimo.'_ The words screamed in his head, large and persistent. Will opened his mouth but they would not be spoken, suffocating him instead with their bulk.

He had to close his eyes and panted harshly. Will loved the way the other's hips were smacked against his rump. He loved the way the hot burning hardness was shoved into him again, again and again, the burning of sweat in his eyes. He loved the burning of his body being used like this without any care about the harm caused.

He loved the hard grip on his hips, fingernails burying deep into his sweat slicked skin, forcing him to hold still. He was absolutely in love with the metallic sound of the voice taunting him as one hand let go of his hip and there was the sudden pain of something sharp digging into his chest. He loved the feeling of blood running over his skin and he sweet smell of it mingling with the musky scent of sex. He loved the sound of his choking breaths.

All of this was building up inside him close to bursting out but still he could not say anything. He was not able to tell how much he felt for the one person making him love all of it. He had obsessively collected the words in different languages but in the end they could not even faintly describe how he felt.

Sticky warm fingers were shoved into his mouth and he greedily sucked his own blood from the digits. The sweet iron taste and the pulsing burn on his chest aroused him even more and he shoved back into the hard rhythm that was driving into him. His body was far better to communicate what his words could not describe. The hot and humid breath against the back of his neck and the shell of his ear sent a sweet ache through him and he moaned.

The rhythm sped up and the strokes got even harder and a strong grip was placed around his neck and his face was pressed down into the sheets. Excited to the brink of exploding Will spread his legs wider and raised his ass slightly. The improved angle had him shout and moan his pleasure into the white cotton that smelled of sweat and blood.

Who would have thought that no language was needed after all.

 

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> **Translations:**
> 
> FRENCH:  
> "Vous désirez un café, Monsieur?" – Would you like a coffee Sir?  
> "No, merci beaucoup." – No, thank you very much.  
> "Autre chose, Monsieur?" – Something else, Sir?  
> "Non, je suis content, merci beaucoup." – No, I'm fine, thank you very much.
> 
> JAPANESE:  
> "Aishiteru yo." – I love you.  
> "Matowaritsuku, aishiteru yo." – Don't leave me, I love you.  
> "Gomen nasai." – I'm sorry.   
> "Iie!" – No!  
> "Sayonara." – Goodbye.  
> "Yashimoto-san, shisaku." – Yashimoto, stay.  
> "Yashimoto-san!" – Yashimoto!
> 
> GERMAN:  
> 'Ich liebe dich – 10 Tricks wie du ihn dazu bringst seine Liebe für dich zu gestehen.' – I love you: 10 tricks how you can make him confess his love for you.
> 
> SPANISH (1):  
> "¡Hola William! ¿Qué haces?" – Hi William! What are you doing?  
> "Nada. Estoy a mi piso y relajo." – Nothing. I'm at home and relaxing.  
> "Entonces te sumas a nosotros y ayudas con la preparación de la exposición. Todos los objetos de exposición han arribado." – Well, join us and help with preparing the exhibition. All of the exhibits have arrived.  
> "Vale. ¿Cuando hay que llegar?" – Okay. When do I have to come?  
> "A las dieciséis." – At four (p.m.).  
> "Vale. ¡Saludos!" – Okay. Bye!  
> "!Saludos!" – Bye!
> 
> SPANISH (2):  
> "William, ¿que pasó?" – William, what happened?  
> "Nada. Todo es de acuerdo." – Nothing. Everything is alright.  
> "Estas pálido." – You are pale.   
> "Me siento mal. Creo que volveré a mi piso." – I don't feel well. I think I'll go back home.
> 
>  
> 
> And for everyone who wants to say 'I love you' in as many languages as possible:  
> [OMNIGLOT – writing systems &amp; languages of the world](http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/iloveyou.htm)


End file.
